Stripping Canadians of Our Democratic & Human
Rights!How far will this go? Will
you be next?

Executive Summary;
Web-Site home.eol.ca/~donbar

In this election year, we need to recognize and make public a
new threat to Democracy. Meaningful public participation in government
decision making and the efforts of those who defend the environment are
being deliberately undermined by the very people (and their bureaucratic
servants), we elected to protect our rights! This issue needs to
be made public so ways to counter it can be found or it will surely spread
like an anti-Democratic cancer.

This issue has not yet been covered by the media.

The Ontario government has legalized censorship
and cover-up of government records by using the Freedom Of
Information Act (FOI); unethically applying it against those who would
hold governments and institutions accountable. That is right, the
City of Mississauga need only make an allegation of guilt by association
in order to deny all FOI requests, by Ontarian taxpayers. The City
of Mississauga with the help of the Ontario government is using the Mississauga
grassroots community group, the Friends of the Cawthra Bush (FCB), as scapegoats
to set frightening legal precedents. Precedents that affect
all Ontarian residents. These rulings have occurred only because
the FCB does not have the money to win justice in the courts. The
rulings are a powerful political weapon that bureaucrats use to
hide
critical information from public scrutiny;
mocking our democratic
principles, removing accountability and transparency from government,
preventing the public's interests from being served and covering up politicians
true intentions. As well as, destroying the Cawthra Bush.

The Green Party
has tried to aid the community's effort at saving one of the few remaining
environmental and Provincially significant forest/wetlands and the last
place in Mississauga where the Jefferson Salamander lives, from
development, but their FOI request was also denied. To deny a political
party is an affront to the very principles of democracy itself,
a democracy that thousands of Canadians have given their lives to create
and protect.

Just some of the effects that these rulings have had;

* Scientific facts are being removed from
the decision making process, signalling the return
to the bad-old-days, when self
serving political fabrications were all the public was allowed
to know. Environmental issues/concerns
will suffer the most!

* City staff’s attacks on community representatives
are not made public, which promotes
more violence by City staff. This
also aids the politicians in involving the police to carry out
political agendas. The facts hidden
from voter, ensures these low quality politicians re-election!

* Profiling of FOI requesters is legalized.
For the purpose of denying access to records,
persons who are doing research for small groups
can now be called "Frivolous & Vexatious"
FOI requesters because they make a number
of FOI requests about one subject, e.g., the
issue the group is concerned about.
Ironically this makes it unlawful for TAXPAYERS to
become informed about & involved in, their
community by using the FOI Act!